How much did Binance actually get fined by the United States?
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How much did Binance actually get fined by the United States?
Binance now seems to be a veritable golden goose for the U.S. government.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: 0xjs, Jinse Finance
Despite the incident of Changpeng Zhao being detained in the United States, many people assumed that the Binance settlement had moved on amid the widespread reports of a massive $4.3 billion fine—until December 18.
On that day, the U.S. CFTC announced on its official website that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois had approved the settlement agreement between the CFTC, Binance, and Changpeng Zhao, which was initially announced on November 21, 2023. Following Binance and Zhao’s payment of $2.85 billion to the CFTC, the CFTC concluded its enforcement action.
Upon closer inspection, this $2.85 billion amount from the CFTC's November 21 settlement was actually buried within the broader news coverage of Binance’s $4.3 billion total penalty announcement.
Amid all the noise, few seemed to seriously examine exactly how much Binance was actually fined by the U.S. government.
Let us now revisit and carefully analyze the settlement documents released by the U.S. CFTC, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (FinCEN, OFAC), and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Breakdown of the CFTC’s $2.85 Billion Settlement Amount
The CFTC’s $2.85 billion settlement includes:
1. $1.35 billion: Transaction fees disgorged (recovered) by Binance as ill-gotten gains
2. $150 million: Civil penalty imposed on Changpeng Zhao
3. $1.35 billion: Civil penalty
According to the CFTC’s settlement document, the CFTC will receive $2.85 billion. However, the CFTC does not specify where this $2.85 billion is credited or allocated.
Breakdown of the U.S. Treasury’s $4.368 Billion Penalty
According to information released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, two main agencies—FinCEN and OFAC—were involved in the Binance settlement.
FinCEN levied a $3.4 billion civil penalty, while OFAC imposed a $968 million fine.
Allocation of FinCEN’s $3.4 Billion Civil Penalty
Of FinCEN’s $3.4 billion civil penalty, $2.47 billion goes to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the CFTC; $780 million goes to the U.S. Department of the Treasury (DOT); and $150 million is suspended—if Binance fails to meet required compliance commitments and regulatory terms, FinCEN will collect this suspended amount.
Source: FinCEN Enforcement Action Against Binance, Page 59
Allocation of OFAC’s $968 Million Penalty
Of the $968 million OFAC penalty, $898 million goes to OFAC and $70 million to the U.S. Department of the Treasury (DOT).
Source: OFAC Binance Settlement Document, Page 5
Note: As shown above, the $898 million is considered part of Binance’s obligations under its guilty plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice—the same amount specified in the DOJ agreement.
Breakdown:
4.368 = 3.4 (FinCEN civil penalty) + 0.968 (OFAC settlement amount)
3.4 = 0.93 (FinCEN suspended $0.15B + Treasury $0.78B) + 2.47 (DOJ and CFTC)
0.968 = 0.898 (OFAC) + 0.07 (Treasury)
Since the $150 million is a suspended penalty, it will only be enforced if Binance fails to comply with required compliance commitments and regulatory conditions.
Therefore, according to the Treasury Department’s settlement agreement with Binance, the total settlement amount is 4.368 - 0.15 = $4.218 billion. Of this, the U.S. Treasury Department (including FinCEN and OFAC) receives $1.748 billion, while the remaining $2.47 billion is shared between the DOJ and the CFTC.
Breakdown of the U.S. Department of Justice’s $4.36 Billion Settlement
According to information released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Binance agreed to forfeit $2,510,650,588 and pay a criminal fine of $1,805,475,575, totaling $4,316,126,163. Adding the $50 million fine against Changpeng Zhao brings the total to $4.36 billion.
How the $1.805 Billion Criminal Fine Is Allocated
Source: Binance DOJ Plea Agreement, Page 13
Of the $1.805 billion criminal fine, $950 million is credited to the CFTC ("CFTC Credit"), and $850 million goes to the U.S. Department of the Treasury (FinCEN or OFAC).
$1.805 billion (criminal fine) = $0.95 billion (CFTC) + $0.85 billion (FinCEN/OFAC)
How the $2.51 Billion Forfeiture Is Allocated
Source: Binance DOJ Plea Agreement, Page 15
Of this $2.51 billion forfeiture, $1.612 billion comes from transaction fees paid by U.S. users, and $898.6 million stems from transactions involving sanctioned countries such as Iran—this corresponds directly to the $898 million referenced earlier in the “U.S. Treasury OFAC $968 Million Penalty Allocation” section.
$2.51 billion (forfeiture) = $1.612 billion (ill-gotten transaction fees) + $0.898 billion (OFAC)
Breakdown:
4.36 = 1.8 (criminal fine) + 2.51 (forfeiture) + 0.05 (personal fine on Zhao)
1.8 = 0.95 (CFTC) + 0.85 (FinCEN/OFAC)
2.51 (forfeiture) = 1.612 (ill-gotten transaction fees) + 0.898 (OFAC)
According to the DOJ settlement document, the total settlement amount is $4.36 billion. The U.S. Treasury Department (including FinCEN and OFAC) receives approximately $1.7486 billion, with $950 million explicitly allocated to the CFTC. The remaining $1.612 billion has no clearly defined recipient.
Conclusion
By comparing the settlement agreements from the three U.S. agencies involved in the enforcement action against Binance, we observe the following:
1. The total settlement amounts cited by the three agencies do not match: the Treasury Department cites $4.218 billion, the DOJ cites $4.36 billion, and the CFTC cites $2.85 billion;
2. According to Treasury and DOJ documents, the Treasury Department receives roughly the same amount—about $1.748 billion—across both settlements;
3. Based on the DOJ document, after subtracting the $1.748 billion going to the Treasury and the $950 million explicitly allocated to the CFTC, $1.612 billion remains unassigned;
4. According to the CFTC document, Binance must pay the CFTC $2.85 billion—more than the maximum possible allocation to the CFTC under the Treasury and DOJ agreements;
5. The CFTC document provides no details on how the $2.85 billion will be allocated. Yet the court has already approved the CFTC’s settlement. Meanwhile, according to Treasury documents, the DOJ and CFTC together are to share $2.47 billion;
6. Due to contradictions among the three government agencies’ settlement documents, the exact total settlement amount cannot currently be determined. Clearly, however, Binance is now entirely at the mercy of the U.S. government, which has already acted aggressively—Changpeng Zhao has been detained;
7. Binance has signed all three settlement agreements. Each agency may act in its own interest, so it is understandable why the CFTC rushed to secure court approval of its agreement first;
8. The confirmed amounts already total $4.598 billion ($1.748 billion to Treasury + $2.85 billion to CFTC), exceeding the widely reported $4.3 billion figure from November—and this does not even include the DOJ’s share;
9. All settlement agreements contain punitive clauses stating that penalties will be increased in case of future violations. Moreover, the U.S. is well known for its aggressive "entrapment enforcement" tactics.
Thus, Binance now appears to be nothing more than a golden goose for the U.S. government.
“Plucking feathers without making the goose squawk,” and “waiting until enough value accumulates before harvesting once”—these may represent the U.S. government’s optimal strategy.
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